When I was 15 years old I played baseball, listened to music and played some more baseball. That was my life in a nutshell.

I find 15-year-old Katherine Orne's life much more exciting and certainly more diversified.  I initially knew Katherine as a hockey player, and that in itself made her teenage years more interesting than mine. Then last spring, in her freshman year at Camden Hills Regional High School, I found Katherine on the lacrosse field, another sport that was not around when I was in school.

Now I find out she is also a good equestrian, who has been riding for eight years. On Aug. 10, I got to photograph her, with her horse, Spencer Bay, in competition at the Stonewall Stables in Nobleboro.  

Orne, who says she really likes science class, also says she does not particularly like English class. But when it comes to sports: "Its far too hard to pick a favorite sport. They're all so different."

I watched her work Saturday with Spencer, a 10-year-old thoroughbred that loves Twizzlers. Katherine looked happy sitting on that horse.

Orne started riding eight years ago with her cousins at Apple Ridge Farm in Appleton and moved to Stonewall Stables three years ago.

"I love the horses, and I love the place [Stonewall Stables]," said Orne. "The sport is such a unique mix of fluency and adrenaline."

Orne showed exactly what she meant by that statement in her second run of the day, jumping. After a jump heading into a corner, Spencer decided to misbehave a little, and started kicking up his hind legs. That caused a moment of fear in Orne, who quickly used her knowledge of riding and her command over this huge animal and got him straightened out in time for the next jump. She went on to win the championship in that event.

One can watch the concentration on her face as she directed her horse. It was beautiful to watch through my lens.

This was my first rodeo, so to speak.  I went into the barn and watched Katherine brush Spencer and clean him up. You could see the love. I am a city boy; never been that close to a horse, let alone to walk up and pet the animal. Such a majestic animal yet he seemed like putty in Katherine's hands.

I was amazed with the amount of work, practice and dedication it takes to own/lease a horse, let alone the work it takes to master riding. Katherine spends three or four days a week at the stables in the summer and even a couple of days a week in the winter, aside from school and hockey.

She competed in two events Aug. 10, taking first place in both and winning overall champion. A humble rider, she wanted me to do this story on the stable or all the girls. She is an accomplished athlete who represents her family, school and community in a way that makes people proud to know her.

Click here for the photo gallery of Katherine from the Stonewall Stables

Sports photographer/reporter Ron Hawkes is looking for more well-rounded student athlete's from the Knox and Waldo county schools that I can showcase Through My Lens.  Contact me at sports@penbaypilot.com